Chris Chelios, Brian Leetch named All-American Prospect Game coaches

Hockey Hall of Famers Chris Chelios and Brian Leetch have been named the head coaches for the sixth annual CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, to be played Sept. 21 in KeyBank Center.

Tickets for the event, which features 42 of the top American-born prospects eligible for the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas, go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m at Sabres.com, AllAmericanProspectsGame.com or at the arena box office.

"It is only fitting that a game aimed to showcase the future of American hockey be coached by two of the greatest American players to ever play," said Jim Johansson, assistant executive director of operations for USA Hockey. "As we've already seen with former Prospects Game players, many of the players in the game will go on to star in the NHL, and fans are also likely to see some players that will be back in Buffalo in December to represent our country in the World Junior Championship."

Chelios and Leetch have combined to represent Team USA in 17 international events, including five Olympics, five World Junior Championships, three Canada Cups, two World Cups and two World Championships. They were teammates five times, winning a gold medal in the inaugural World Cup in 1996 and a silver medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Chelios, who was recently named an assistant coach for the 2018 Olympics, played 26 NHL seasons and is the all-time leader in games played by a defenseman in NHL history at 1,651.

Sabres coach Phil Housley was a coach for the game in 2012 and Buffalo star Jack Eichel was the MVP of the game here in 2014. Casey Mittelstadt, Buffalo's first-round pick in June, was the MVP of the game last year in Philadelphia.

Mike Harrington – Mike Harrington has covered the Sabres, MLB, the Bisons, college basketball and high schools since joining The News in 1987. He is a National Baseball Hall of Fame voter, a 2013 inductee into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame and the chairman of the Buffalo chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.